Ocean
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JAN
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FEB 2005
Steve Clark
12
Whale Rider
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Waves of Warning
22
cover
FACE TO FACE
BY
ROBERT WALD
T
~
STEVE CLARK
HE EARLY MORNING RAIN HAD
rinsed the streets of Encinitas
clean of carbon dust left
behind from another summer of
gridlock traffic. From up on surfboard hill, the clearing wind that
followed the rain made it possible
to view the entire length of Catalina
Island, from Avalon to the West
End, one hundred miles away.
Some enchanted day!
It was upon this epic Sunday
clear that production from within the
patchwork quilt building on the hill
had ceased for the Sabbath . . . all but
for the beautiful sound of a slide guitar
drifting out from beyond a dusty
shaping room door.
Inside was Steve Clark, mildmannered, soft-spoken owner of Clark
Custom Surfboards. Clark was strumming a slack-key tune in the Hawaiian
spirit of Ry Cooder.
“This is my ‘Rattletail’ model,”
Clark says gesturing toward a freshly
shaped surfboard laying on the rack.
“Listen to it rattle!” It does
indeed rattle for entombed within the
hollow tail block is the rattler of a
rattlesnake . . . modern innovations of
surfboard design continue to unfold.
Artist, musician, surfer, surfboard designer and shaper, Clark, 55,
walks, talks, sleeps and eats surfing,
music and art.
Born son of a husband and wife
attending UCLA in 1949, Clark’s family migrated to Encinitas in 1953. His
father, an avid body surfer and paddleboarder who had grown up on the
beaches of Redondo, Hermosa and
Manhattan, brought his passion for
ocean sports to Moonlight Beach.
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THE OCEAN MAGAZINE • JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2005
story
CLARK AT HIS SHOP IN ENCINITAS
“When I was real little I used to
ride on my dad’s shoulders when he
bodysurfed at Moonlight,” Clark said.
“We were Moonlight regulars and we
knew all the lifeguards. Fred Ashley,
LJ Richards, Rusty Miller and Scotty
McClaren to name a few.
“I first started surfing in 1959
when I was 10 years old at Moonlight.
Our neighbor’s daughter bought a surfboard and didn’t like it. I wanted to
learn to surf so I bought it from her for
$14. I got a ding in the tail and as I
began fixing it I peeled up the glass
and discovered a Hobie Surfboard
sticker under the layers. I couldn’t
believe I had been riding a Hobie for
a year and half without knowing it was
a Hobie! That was a big deal for me.
“I’ve had other balsa surfboards.
One that I bought from Dale B.
Woodward, renowned boat and surfboard builder here in Cardiff. It had a
sticker on it that read ‘Bamboo Reef’
written in bamboo letters. Really cool
lookin’. I’ve always thought I should
resurrect that label.”
In ‘65 Clark became a member
of Swami’s Surfing Association. The
club, established in 1963 was originally named Swami’s Surfing Society.
John Price of Surfboards Hawaii, Al
Merrick of Channel Island Surfboards,
Don Hansen of Hansen Surfboards and
little 13 year old Diana Brummett
were among charter members of note.
At 14 years old Clark was living
the ultimate young surfer’s dream. He
surfed Swamis everyday and was surrounded by a plethora of talented surfboard manufacturers, all within walking distance of his home. Clark would
soon become interested in learning the
craft of surfboard production himself.
“I was in 10th grade at San
Dieguito High when I was hanging
around Surfboards Hawaii shop on
Highway 101 in Leucadia. Dick
Brewer and John Price was there at
that time. The boards were shaped,
glassed and shipped from this location.
Somehow Brewer left and Price took
over the label.
“They started small and expanded to another building that had two
shaping rooms and a shipping department. I got a job packing boards for
shipping. This was about the time I
became interested in shaping my own
surfboards.
“Dick Brewer at that time never
let anyone watch him shape boards. It
was off limits. So I drilled a little
CLARK AND GRANDSON LEVI
NORTH SHORE, OAHU 2004
ALL PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESTY STEVE CLARK
peep hole in the drywall on the other
side of his shaping room and I was
watching him shape for a good couple
of weeks.
“So one day me and my buddy
Steve Zelinka got out of school to go
to work packing surfboards. We heard
Brewer in his shaping room getting
ready to work so I said to Zelinka
‘He’s in there! Let’s go look!’
“I peeked through the peep hole
and said ‘I don’t see him, he’s not in
there! Where is he?!’ Then all of a
sudden WHAM!, I got a handful of
foam dust through the peep hole right
into my eye!
“Brewer yelled at us and said
‘Close that hole! Don’t ever look at
me while I’m working!’ He didn’t get
too mad but we got the message!”
According to Clark, as
Surfboards Hawaii grew they moved
their factory to the corner of Highway
101 and D Street next door to the La
Paloma Theater. It was formerly occupied by Bank of America.
“Price used the bank vault as the
sanding room,” Clark said. “Eddie
Wright, who later formed Sunset
Surfboards was their main shaper at
the time. This was ‘65 or ‘66. I
learned to gloss from Gary Brummett.
After that it gets kind of fuzzy. At
some point I got into trouble for playing a joke on the secretary. The whole
thing backfired. I was sent packing.”
Dejectedly, Clark walked down
the street to Hansen’s Surfboards and
got a job glossing that very same day.
It was during this time working for
various manufacturers that Clark cut
his teeth on surfboard production. He
shaped his first surfboard in 1964
when he was in the ninth grade.
YOUNG
1966
STEVE CLARK TRIMS IT ON OUT
PHOTO:
In 1970 Clark married Melissa,
his wife of 34 years. Melissa is an RN
at Scripps Encinitas and was voted
nurse of the year 2002.
“Shortly after my marriage to
Melissa I got drafted into the armed
forces. This was during the Viet Nam
war. I really didn’t want to go shoot
anybody so I hid out in Mexico for
awhile. When I came back I had
another induction notice waiting for
me. I tore that up and threw it away
and went up to Oregon to attend
Southern Oregon College.
“The draft board finally caught
up with me about a year and a half
later with another induction notice and
I got sent to Portland for my physical.
I was standing in a room with about
200 other guys when an officer comes
in and asks if there were any conscientious objectors in the group. I was the
only one that raised my hand. They
gave me another stack of papers to fill
out and I was sent back down to San
Diego for a hearing. It was just before
I was to attend the hearing that the war
had ended.”
With the spectre of going to war
no longer pestering Clark he resumed
what he loved doing best: surfing, creating art and playing music.
SHIRLEY BERNARD
In the mix of married life Clark
finished college, travelled extensively
in Mexico, began his own surfboard
production company and continued
to surf.
“I had many memorable days
surfing in the ‘70’s in California.
Before the invention of tri-fins there
didn’t seem to be that many people out
surfing. Swami’s, Trestles, La Jolla,
all over. The surf was excellent! At
the same time I travelled a lot.
Driving to Baja and mainland Mexico.
Puerto Escondido.”
It was during this time that
Clark formed a rock ‘n roll band and
began touring Mexico. “I had this
Volkswagon mini-bus,” Clark said.
“We put all the guitars and amps and
drums inside and strapped our surfboards on top. We then drove down
mainland Mexico to Topolobampo and
took the ferry over to La Paz.” A voyage that turned to a thriller at sea.
“The ocean was heavy,” Clark
remembers, “and the ferry was getting
slammed broadside by 20 foot waves.
I thought for sure we were going to
capsize. We were sitting in the second
story of the ferry and the waves were
hitting the windows! My heart nearly
leapt to my throat when I saw the cap-
tain of the ferry wearing a life vest,
swim fins and snorkel!”
Upon arriving safely in La Paz
Clark went to retrieve his bus. He
soon discovered that a truck loaded
with live chickens had broken free
of its restraining chains below deck
during the storm.
When they opened the gates of
the ferry to let the cars out it blew
Clark’s mind. “A flood of feathers and
clucking chickens were drifting and
flying everywhere!”
Mucho pollo! Dusting the foul
off and bidding the
captain of the ferry
bye-bye, Clark and
his bandmates
disembarked,
continuing their
trek to Cabo
San Lucas,
surfing and playing gigs at the night
clubs downtown.
“It was an incredible time,”
Clark recalls. “We surfed in the sun
and rocked under the moon and stars!”
The charm of warm phosphorescent water, good natured locals, excellent waves and smiling huachinangos
captured Clark’s heart. But after 4
months in Mexico obligations stateside
brought the wandering minstrel home.
“In ‘74 I went to work glossing
for Alan Weiss at Koast Surfboards.”
Clark said. “John Kies, now of
Encinitas Surfboards was his head
shaper at the time. I picked up a lot of
shaping techniques from John. Kies is
a really good shaper. Bill Shrosbree
and Mike Slingerland were shaping
there too.”
The year 1975 yielded Clark and
his wife Melissa a beautiful daughter,
Oceanna. In 2004 Oceanna would
give birth to their first grandson, Levi.
Levi’s dad, Chris Gage, is an avid
surfer and San Diego City firefighter.
‘BLACK CORAL DIAMOND EYED OCTOPUS’
MEXI-PEP
BLACK CORAL, CONCH SHELL, DIAMONDS AND GOLD SCULPTURE BY STEVE CLARK
THE OCEAN MAGAZINE • JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2005
13
STEVE CLARK TAKES A COLD D
Having taken his first step into
the world of shaping surfboards, Clark
began purchasing the tools necessary
to do the job. He bought his first planer in ‘75 from Steve Moret for $100.
“I glossed for Koast Surfboards
then went over to Clinton Surfboards.
This was about the time Nectar
Surfboards started. I started shaping
Nectar kneeboards for Gary McNabb.”
Reflecting on the direction of
surfing during the ‘70’s, Clark recalls
that “Nobody rode longboards then.
Everyone was riding short pintails.
Speed was the thing. Get in the tube
and do speed turns. I remember a lot
of good days surfing in the 70’s.”
Honing his skills as a shaper
Clark initiated his first surfboard company, International Brotherhood of
Surfing or IBS.
“Everyone thought IBS stood
for exactly that! I bull****. You
know the rest. The IBS name was
short lived. Then I renamed my business Clark Custom Surfboards. The
emblem was a little diamond with
plain letters. Real simple. Clear
boards. Nothing fancy.
“The first five years, from ‘75 to
‘80 I made my boards entirely myself.
Shaped, glassed, sanded, glossed and
sold. I had a house in Del Mar back
then. 5 acres surrounded by nothing.
Then I moved back to Encinitas and
had a shaping room built on the side.
“I shaped the boards at home
then delivered them down to Channin
Precision Fiberglass to be glassed.
STEVE CLARK’S BAJA SURF SQUAD
GARTH MURPHY, MIKE DOYLE & JEFF KING
“Channin Precision Fiberglass is
one of the best surfboard glassing
facilities in the world. The technology
combined with craftsmanship. Randy
Wong, their manager is a vital part of
Channin’s operation. He keeps the
quality at the highest level. I feel
Channin Precision Fiberglass is overlooked by a lot of the surf world. They
probably just don’t understand.
“I see a lot of kids treat their
surfboards like garbage. They should
put them in board bags and keep them
out of the sun when they aren’t using
them. Treat your surfboard like a
guitar. With care.”
“I’m always going to garage sales looking for a good old surfboard” says Steve Clark,
an avid surfboard collector shown here in his archival vault.
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THE OCEAN MAGAZINE • JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2005
As Clark built his reputation for
producing quality surfboards, his list
of clients began to grow. Mike Doyle,
Jeff King, Garth Murphy, Mark
Brolaski, Jeff Mahoney and Pat Curren
are among famous surfers who have
placed orders with Clark.
Since 1991 Clark has been shaping exclusively at the Channin facility
and it’s not uncommon for him to produce four to five hundred boards a
year. Over his career Clark has shaped
surfboards for over twenty-plus different labels.
Clark sums up his bread and
butter by saying “I just go with the
flow. Everything is constantly changing in this business. Sometimes all I
shape are longboards then all of a sudden I’m doing guns. Five-sixes to
eighteen footers. I shape them all.”
In addition to his full time job
shaping, Steve Clark is an avid surfboard collector, fine artist and as
mentioned earlier in this article, a fine
guitar player.
In his shaping room along with
his tools, shaped boards and blanks are
stringed instruments that inspire him.
“I like to always have an instrument around to strum, even in the
midst of shaping many surfboards. I
love playing music. There is definitely magic to it. I still love to jam twice
a week with my friends at the ranch.”
Clark is also an accomplished
sculptor and jeweler, designing and
creating works of black coral from
the sea canyons of Hawai’i and gold
VE
CLARK TAKES A COLD DROP
CLARK HOLDS HIS OLD VELZY
and diamonds from the deep mines
of Africa.
A consummate artist, surfer,
musician, family man and good fella,
Steve Clark is definitely one person
worth calling on.
I’m certainly glad I did.
*
*
*
Steve Clark jams on Fender Stratocaster “Relic” with Bob Dylan standing in on bass.
THE OCEAN MAGAZINE • JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2005
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